Several Brazilian swimmers who competed at the 2016 Olympic Games and Rio are currently without a club, including famed Brazilian sprinter Bruno Fratus.
Fratus was dismissed from Pinheiros, the club that he’s been training at throughout the entirety of his career. Fratus’ responded to his dismissal negatively over Twitter, announcing his frustration with the decision considering his success that he’s had at the club.
Depois de quase 10 anos de clube, duas finais Olímpicas, 5 medalhas Panamericanas, mundial, varios titulos nacionais… "Dispensado" é f**** https://t.co/6Wt6B6SHW7
— Bruno Fratus (@BFratus) January 23, 2017
Roughly translated,the Tweet reads, “After 10-years in the team with two Olympic finals, five Pan-Am medals, World, Several national titles…dismissed is a f***.”
Along with his international success, Fratus was ranked second overall in the 50m freestyle last year with a 21.37. At the Olympic Games however, he wasn’t able to replicate that performance, finishing sixth overall in the final with a 21.79.
Fratus wasn’t the only swimmer dropped from the team. Joanna Maranhao was dropped from the team as well. Sources claim that the reason was that she’s too old to train for another Olympic run.
Like Fratus, Maranhao had won several medals internationally. Maranhao is an eight-time Pan American Games medalist and a six-time South American Games medalist, including five golds.
Former Lousiville swimmer Joao de Lucca was also dropped from the team and currently remains unattached as does Fratus. Lucca also has an extensive record of medaling internationally. He won three holds at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, a bronze at the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships, and two medals at the 2014 short course world championships.
Although a specific reasoning for the dismissal of Fratus and Lucca hasn’t been released, it would appear that it could potentially be due to their age as well. Both athletes are 27-years-old, which would make them 31 by the time the next Olympics rolls around. Most competitors in the sport rarely swim past 30, let alone perform at an internationally level past 30.
It seems as though it’s a followed trend in Brazilian swimming now. One of Brazil‘s top swimmers ever, Thiago Pereira, along with Felipe Franca and Leonardo de Deus all found themselves removed from their clubs this season. de Deus was able to join Unisanta with a salary cut, however the other two still remain unattached.
All three will be considered old for swimming come 2020. Both Pereira and Franca will be in their mid-30s whereas de Deus will be 30.
The reports out of Brazil are that all the major teams had their swimming budgets cut (for example, one. Team that could pay R$20,000 for one athlete, now has a total monthly budget of R$25,000). This has let to teams prioritizing younger athletes. More importantly they want to focus on the swimmers who train with the team and not the one who just show up for meets.
Hello Brazilian coaches I would like to introduce you to Anthony Ervin.
He loosely represents this club at Brazilian meets but dosent actually train with them correct? I thought he trains at Auburn?
Well, he was very inelegant in a national interview right after the race..Crass, really. I would have dropped him there and then… If you read his tweet carefully his uncouthness “demure” is on full display now.
What did he say during his interview?
I didn’t see the interview, but I saw him after the 50 and yeah, he was pretty heated.
Which I mean, I can understand the frustration. But might have been a little childish.
Wow really tough for Fratus. Although you have to delve a little deeper to understand the club’s decision. His season best for the year was 21.37 seconds, while he only managed to go 21.79 seconds at the Olympics. That moved him from 2nd in the world to 7th, so that gives him a 5x multiplier. Now, factor in net marketing and advertising losses for the club due to his added time, and adjust for inflation over the 3 month period. We determine that taking into account all these factors the club loses approximately R$13,711 per hundredth of a second added at a championship meet. Fratus added .42 seconds with a 5x place multiplier, so the club lost approximately R$2,879,310 from… Read more »
I can imagine there is more to the story (on both sides) but putting a cost basis analysis in defense makes the club look even worse.
I agree CBSWIMS. I’ve been around this sport for around six decades and I’ve never heard of clubs dropping Olympians for financial reasons. Also, where did the 13,711 per hundredth come from? Could you explain your math a little more please, EEYORE?
The Pinheiros swim club is partnered with TorchSports talent agency. They have set bonuses and penalties for athletes’ performances at championship meets. In Brazil these contract terms are public information, which you can find at torchsports.com/performance/fratus
Fratus had a back injury(hidden from media) before the games.
Interesting, I didn’t know he was injured. Looking at his contract I see an injury clause that negates any place multiplier penalty. So the club will still incur the financial penalty from the time addition, but the 5x place multiplier goes out the door. That saves the club over R$2,000,000
Wow – lucky Cameron & Cate were not in that club . At $13 per 1/10 off in the Olympic finals they would be $130,000-160,000 down plus add the 50 for another 50,000- 80,000. Poor Cate would be almost a quarter of a million short .